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New research says viewers won’t watch new shows unless they can see previous episodes

Research has shown that viewers do not like to start watching new shows unless previous episodes are easily available.

Speaking at the Television Critic’s Association press tour in Beverly Hills on Tuesday, NBC’s President of Research and Media Development Alan Wurtzel revealed new research conducted by the American television network.

According to Wurtzel, more than half of people surveyed (54%) said they would not begin watching a new show if they could not access older episodes – even if they had heard good things about the show. He said: “That’s a big deal… Everybody in the business has to take heed of that 54%, because it’s a huge issue.”

Nearly three quarters of people (72%) surveyed said they were more likely to watch a show returning for a new season if they were able to watch all past episodes on demand or online.

The research also revealed that nearly half of viewers said they wait until they have heard positive things about a show before they start watching it.

Wurtzel revealed: “It’s one of these things where, like, ‘Don’t waste my time on stuff that I’m really not going to like,’ and that puts a pretty big burden on us to essentially get people to kind of sample a program.”